BIG players on the national events scene have their eyes on Bunbury as the city moves to change the way it attracts high-profile events.
In a shake-up of procedure following the election of a new council last October, the City of Bunbury scrapped its former events model in place of a more efficient system expected to make it easier to secure big ticket items.
In February this year, the City announced it had formed a community-based event coordination group which would work to attract and develop local events and activities.
The move meant the City would continue to run its two biggest events – Australia Day and the Christmas Carnival – but funding applications for all other events would be coordinated by the new group with in-kind support from council.
Mayor Gary Brennan said a review of events management had shown the City’s core business was not running events but more about offering support and funding opportunities to help the community drive them.
Events group spokesperson Monique Warnock said she had been in talks with several big names on the national and international events circuit and was planning to bring them to Bunbury to showcase its potential.
“The message we are getting out there to promoters is that Bunbury is open for business,” Ms Warnock said.
At this stage the details cannot be unveiled but Ms Warnock said she expected announcements in coming months.
The first Oz Rock festival, headlined by Jimmy Barnes, came to Busselton in January and was hailed a huge success.
Down Under promoter Mick Pember approached the City of Bunbury to host the event last year but was not convinced.
“The processes we had to go through made things difficult – sometimes you can red-tape yourself out of things,” Mr Pember said.
“You need someone to grab it and say ‘Yes, that’s a great event and we want it’ instead of giving you a 20-page application to fill out.”
But Mr Pember said the new events coordination group had given him confidence to have another look at Bunbury.
“It’s always a risk taking things out of Perth and into the regions,” he said.
“You need a city with a bit of vision and a bit of grunt and that’s what I have seen within this new committee – I’m now keen to be closely aligned with Bunbury for future events.”
Keep reading the Bunbury Mail to find out which events are lined up for our city.